Analysts Set Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) PT at $80.50

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.8889.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WDC. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $239,148.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,388,460.80. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,975 shares of company stock worth $3,935,806 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, CNB Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $96.15 on Tuesday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $97.78. The stock has a market cap of $33.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.63 and a 200 day moving average of $56.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.